Pérez Prado

See all 7 pictures

Play Radio

Listen to Pérez Prado Radio, featuring artists like Perez Prado And His Orchestra, Tito Puente, Xavier Cugat, Beny Moré and more…

• Search on Spotify

535,347 plays (81,119 listeners)
In your library (0 plays)

Send Pérez Prado Ringtones to Cell

Buy

• Send Ringtones to Cell
• Tonefuse Search

Add to my Library

Universally known as the King of the Mambo, Pérez Prado was the single most important musician involved in the hugely popular Latin dance craze. Whether he actually created the rhythm is somewhat disputed, but it’s abundantly clear that Prado developed it into a bright, swinging style with massive appeal for dancers of all backgrounds and classes. Prado’s mambo was filled with piercing high-register trumpets, undulating saxophone counterpoint, atmospheric organ (later on), and harmonic ideas borrowed from jazz. While his tight percussion arrangements allowed for little improvisation, they were dense and sharply focused, keeping the underlying syncopations easy for dancers to follow. Prado played the piano, but was often more in his element as the focal point of the audience’s excitement; he leaped, kicked, danced, shouted, grunted, and exhorted his musicians with a dynamic stage presence that put many more sedate conductors and bandleaders to shame. With this blueprint, Prado brought mambo all the way into the pop mainstream, inspiring countless imitators and scoring two number one singles on the pop charts (albeit in a smoother vein than the fare that first made his name) as the fad snowballed. He was a star throughout most of the Western Hemisphere during the ’50s, and even after his popularity waned in the United States, he remained a widely respected figure in many Latin countries, especially his adopted home of Mexico. Prado is often best remembered for his softer, more commercial work, which has an undeniable kitschiness that plays well with modern-day lounge-revival hipsters.

Read more… Edit bio

Popular tags: mambo, latin, instrumental, cuban, 50s  See more

Share this artist:

• Tweet
• Send

Top Albums

• King of Mambo
  Pérez Prado

  Buy

  • Download Album
  • Amazon MP3 $7.99
  • 7digital $9.99
  • iTunes $5.99
  • Buy Album
  • Amazon $7.99
  • eBay Search
• Mondo Mambo! - The Best Of...
  Pérez Prado

  Buy

  • Download Album
  • Amazon MP3 Search
  • 7digital Search
  • iTunes Search
  • Buy Album
  • Amazon Search
  • eBay Search
• The Mambo King
  Pérez Prado

  Buy

  • Download Album
  • Amazon MP3 $8.99
  • 7digital $9.99
  • iTunes Search
  • Buy Album
  • Amazon Search
  • eBay Search
• Havana, 3 a.m.
  Pérez Prado

  Buy

  • Download Album
  • Amazon MP3 $5.99
  • 7digital $5.99
  • iTunes $6.99
  • Buy Album
  • Amazon Search
  • eBay Search

Top Tracks

• Last Week
• Last 6 months

1		Patricia			103
2		Guaglione			76
3		Mambo No. 5			70
4		Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White			65
5		Zelda's Theme			39
6		The Peanut Vendor			37
7		Mambo Jambo			33
8		Que Rico El Mambo			30
9		Mambo No. 8			26
10		Mambo #8			25
11		Historia De Un Amor			15
11		Caballo Negro			15
13		Peanut Vendor			14
14		Cerezo Rosa			12
14		Besame Mucho			12

Buy all tracks at Amazon MP3

See more